History
The club was founded on April 1, 1937, and is the oldest on the island and was once the island's only club until 1948. It is one of the most titled teams in Sal regional division numbering 7.
The club participated 8 times in the national level. Their greatest appearance was in the national finals where they lost to Académica do Mindelo in the 1989 edition. As Académico do Aeroporto won their only national title in 2003, Santa Maria qualified as a runner up in 2004, the club only had a draw and finished 5th with a point. The club was next qualified as a runner up since the early 1990s. Their recent appearance was in 2009 after winning their last championship title, the club also did not have a win but had two draws, a little better than five years later with six goals scored, the club finished 5th with 2 points.
The club won their only Super Cup title for Sal in 2009. On December 30, 2016, Santa Maria won their first Association Cup/Opening Tournament title for the 2016–17 season in the island.
The club celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1987, the club celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2012. [1]
In the 2016–17 season, Santa Maria started second place, after a win over Verdun in the 2nd round, the club was in the lead until a loss to Juventude on April 14 and became second which would be for the rest of the season. On April 30, the final match of the season, Santa Maria made the highest scoring match in the region, where they defeated Gaviões 1–10. Santa Maria finished with 29 points, two less than Académica do Aeroporto's, the club scored 40 goals, the most in the nation.
Santa Maria participated in the 2017–18 season with the island's association cup, placed first in Group A, they advanced to play into the final match and defeated Académico do Aeroporto 1–0 at extra time to win their second straight title, the only scorer was Tchubasco. Santa Maria kicked off the 2017–18 Sal Premier Division with first place with three points, another win was made and a high scoring in two regional championship matches, they defeated ASGUI 2–9 and is currently the region's highest of the season, the club is first place as of the third round as they recently defeated the island's most popular club Académico do Aeroporto, a repeat of what they did in the Opening Tournament final and contested to be the top three clubs of the island as the club is the first of the four participating historic clubs in the Premier Division. At round 4, they were first place, more than the other participating historic clubs of the island, two more than Juventude, three more than Académico do Aeroporto and five more than Académica do Sal. Santa Maria was one position ahead of Juventude. three ahead of Académico do Aeroporto and six ahead of Académica do Sal. Santa Maria is still first at the seventh round, midway in the Premier Division, as they did last season and has 19 points and has scored 24 goals, at that round, an unheard number over 17 last season. Their next win was 6–1 over Gaviões on January 21. A goal draw with Juventude was next, followed by another win over Florença Santa Maria, then a repeat of a goal draw, this time with ASGUI. Santa Maria lost to the powerful Académico do Aeroporto afterwards before a repeat of a goal draw, this time with Académica Sal on March 3. Santa Maria remains first place as of the 11th round. For two rounds from the 10th round, had equal points with Juventude, also they had 30 goals scored and seven wins, the latter the same with Juventude since the 10th round and Palmeira in the 11th round. In the 2017–18 Sal Island Cup, the club started at the first round where they defeated Oasis FC 3–1 in their first ever match with that club. Santa Maria had a bye week at the quarterfinals. In the semis, the club defeated Académico do Aeroporto and later became participant in the final. Santa Maria recently lost another Premier Division match, 1–3 to Palmeira and its first position. Santa Maria was second with 24 points, they were still the mastery in goals with 31 scored. Their points the same as Juventude's at round 12. Santa Maria made another win with a big result of 0–6 over Gaviões and were one of three that has a regional championship title waiting next round, also waiting are possible club records in points and goals as Santa Maria has 37 goals scored. Their final match was against Juventude which ended in a two-goal draw, Palmeira's win had Santa Maria failing for another championship title and finished second behind Palmeira, Sal scored the region's most goals with 39, a goal less than last season failing to make another club record. On March 31, the regional cup finals was played with Palmeira Santa Maria and went into extra time and finally won their only cup title after winning 1–0, also became the city's second and recent club to have a cup title. Santa Maria will qualify into the super cup, first made on March 25, their status became as cup winner on March 31, they will play with the champion Palmeira later at the end of the season.
